White Collar, Black Shoes
by candyfloss2008
Summary: A con artist known as The Lioness is in deep trouble and she needs the help of a certain blue-eyed ex-criminal called Neal Caffrey. Will he be willing to help? And if he is, where will all of this lead to?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so this is a story that will probably have 30 chapters, I will thy to post every other day as this year I took a leap year so I have some time on my hands. I haven't written in a long time so I may be a little rusty. I would like feedback of all sorts, especially reviews. So, enjoy! **

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I never thought it would ever come to this, I always thought that when I would be 30 I would be married to an amazing man and have 2 kids already but, here I am, in front of the FBI building, ready to do the most horrible think I have ever done. I enter the tall building and head to the elevator, the place is crowded, packed with agents that don't even realize what I am going to do. My hands started sweating as I get in the elevator along with 4 other people and head to the 21st floor, the White Collar division, where my target is. I finally get there and the doors open and through those glass panel I can see him. He never changed, his blue eyes sparkling as he laughed with some colleagues. My heart gave a painful jerk as I entered the office space, see him noticing me and taking his hat off smiling. I pulled out my gun, point it, close my eyes and shoot.

**24 HOURS EARLIER**

"Ariana, why does it take you so long to get ready every morning? For Christ's sake, you get up at 5 am and you still aren't ready at 8?" My roommate and best friend, Abigail said, well, more like yelled at me from the living room.

"Well, what can I say, I like to eat my breakfast and drink my coffee peacefully before starting another hectic day. Now, quit bickering and let's go!" I replied as I straightened my jacket and putting my fedora hat on.

"Now, look who is giving me orders! I waited for you for an hour and now you…"

"Abigail, if you don't get out that door right now I am going to rip your head off." I replied sweetly, my British accent kicking in full force.

"Okay, okay… who are we meeting again and why?"

"We are meeting Mozzley at Deco Café. He asked for my advice regarding something and I am going to help him. You don't have to come if you don't want to…" I replied seeing the slight distaste on her face when I mentioned Mozzley.

"Don't mind if I don't, Mozz is a sweetheart but he annoys the life out of me with his OCD and lack of modesty." Abigail replied while putting on her converse shoes.

"Then, where do you plan on going? Don't tell me you are running the con with the Irish mob, Abs, they are dangerous and if something would happen to you, I'd be out of my mind with worry. Please be careful!"

"Yes, mom, of course I will be careful. I just can't stay away, they said something yesterday about Neal and getting revenge and stuff so, I have to find out what this is all about."

"Okay, Abs and if you get anything good give me a call so I can pass the info to Mozz. Bye, bye!"

As I got to the café I saw Mozz seating at a table, sitting in front a cup of coffee and arranging by height everything on the table. I smile to myself as I approached him, thinking how odd of a man he is but still a really good friend. Reaching the table, I sat myself down on the chair in front of him.

"Heya, Mozzley! How have you been?" I asked seeing that he had bags under his eyes and he also looked a bit pale.

"I am fine, thank you! The problem is that a supposed friend of mine allegedly took something from someone and now they are looking for revenge. The only problem is that this friend of mine did not take that something but a friend of my friend took it. And now, that friend of my friend doesn't know what to do to keep himself and his friend out of danger." Mozzley said, looking at the table and finding a crack in it particularly interesting.

"God, Moz, what did you do? What did you steal?"

"I allegedly stole a painting worth 800.000 dollars from the Irish mob. Now they think that Neal took it but they also know about his ties with me, you and Abigail so we need to keep an eye open."

As he finished saying that, my heart went cold, shivers coursing all over my body making the hair at the back of my neck stand up, Abigail was there with them, she was in the hands of the mob and they knew who she was, she was in grave danger. Then, suddenly, my phone rang, it was Abigail.

"Abs, hey, you need to get out of there, now! You are in so much danger!" I said, not waiting to hear from the other end but, when I heard it wasn't the voice I hoped.

"Yes, we quite know about your little friend here. Here is the deal, we want our paintings by tomorrow at 12 pm or your roommate dies. We also want you to kill Neal Caffrey if you want me to let your friend leave without the body bag. Do I make myself clear?" A menacing voice came from the other end, making me weak in the knees at the thought of my best friend who now was in the hands of these ruthless men.

"Crystal, sir. Can you please put her on the phone to know that she is alive, please?" I said my voice cracking, tears threatening to spill onto my pale cheeks.

"Ariana, Ariana! Oh, God, help me!" Abigail screamed from the other end, she sounded like she has been crying and I could only imagine in what state she was.

"Don't forget, you have 24 hours, starting now." The man said as he hung up.

"Mozz, we need a plan and we need it now! I need to give them back the painting and also do something that would prove difficult for both of us, I have to kill Neal."

"You need to what?"

**5 HOURS LATER, Neal Caffrey's Apartment**

"Ok, I got the painting, now we wait for Neal to finish his working hours with the Suit and then we can plan." Mozz said while sipping from a glass filled with Bordeaux.

"Mozz, do you think we can pull this off? I mean, conning the Irish mob isn't the easiest feat. What if we fail? Abigail will be killed…" I said drawing a deep breath and drowning my glass of wine.

"Don't worry, it will work, I promise."

Just as he finished his sentence, the door opened and Neal entered, taking off his hat and smiling.

"Hey, Mozz! You broke into my apartment again and this time you brought a guest. Who is our lovely friend here?" Neal asked raising an eyebrow but keeping his charming smile on.

"Oh, right, you don't know each other in person. Neal, this is Ariana Dale, a.k.a. The Lioness, she is the one that keeps tabs on any rumours that spring up on you and threat your life or my get you in jail. For short, she keeps us safe and sound. Ariana, this is Neal Caffrey, the one you know everything about, well, all except his face."

"Nice to meet you, Neal. It is wonderful to put a face to the info." I said shaking his hand, noticing how soft and warm his hand was.

"The feeling is mutual, never knew The Lioness would be so charming and so benign looking." Neal said while taking my hand and putting it to his lips, kissing it lightly.

"Well, we all have our secrets. Did you know that in Romania we say that a person that has warm hands is a very good liar? But that is not what I came here for, we have a problem. My best friend, Abigail Kaine, was digging into rumours that concerned you. We traced the rumours back to the Irish mob. They think you stole this painting, a lost Klimt, from them so, they wanted revenge. Then, before I know it, Abigail is undercover and neck deep into the Irish mob. Today, I received a phone call, somehow they found who Abs really was, they traced her back to me and then they found out about you. They thought they could kill two birds with one stone, get the painting and get rid of you, permanently. The Irish mob leader, Andrew Stanfield, wants you dead. He ordered me to recover the painting and put a bullet between your eyes or Abigail dies." I said looking him in the eye, giving a sigh at the end of my story.

"Well, I guess we have to form a plan, don't we?" he said, his blue eyes sparkling.

That was the moment when I knew it was going to be alright, Abs was going to be okay and that that sparkle in Neal's eyes was the thing that gave me hope.

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**Okay, so this is the first chapter, you can call it a pilot chapter. I will be continuing this story based on the feedback I get. Hopefully you liked it but, please, tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so, this is chapter 2, I had a sudden inspiration when I woke up today, so, I wrote it faster. Enjoy, everyone!**

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"No way, Neal! We can't bring the Suit into this. If he knows who helps us run then how are we going to disappear?" Mozzy said in panic and shock.

"Well, I have to say it's a good idea. Bringing Agent Burke into this might be a good thing. If this works Mr. Stanfield will spend a long time in jail. Plus, if you tell him what is going on you won't have to run anywhere because you did nothing illegal." I said smiling as I refilled my glass of wine.

"Then, so it is. I am calling him." Neal said taking out his cell phone and calling the agent.

"Hey, Peter, I have a situation here that needs your help, I'll explain when you get here but this is extremely urgent. Ok, see you soon." The blue eyed charmer said as he hung up, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

"He'll be here in 10 minutes. So why don't we get to know each other better until he is here."

"Sure and as I know everything about you and you know nothing about me, I guess you can ask away." I replied taking a sip of the wine and giving Mozzy a questioning look as he started cleaning every crevice of his laptop.

"Okay, first question, where are you from? I can hear a British accent, I think is the London accent but I can hear another one that I can't really put my finger on."

"Well, I come from Romania, a country in Central Europe. I moved out when I was 19 and went to live and study in London, where I spent 6 years. Then when you got out of jail I got a call from Mozzy asking me to watch over you so you don't go back to jail and to keep a route open for the two of you to run in case of danger. I also am the woman Mozz comes to when he needs something. So, here I am."

"Fair enough, so, how did you meet Abigail? I can see you are quite close, what is the story behind that?" Neal asked raising an eyebrow.

Just then, a tall man with light brown hair entered the apartment, he was quite handsome but his clothes screamed FBI. Neal got up and led him to the table.

"Peter, this is Ariana Dale, a friend of mine that is in great need of help. Ariana, this is agent Peter Burke, my boss and a man you can trust with anything."

"It's nice to meet you agent Burke, I hope you will be willing to help me with this." I told the agent while shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Dale and please call me Peter. Now, Miss Dale tell me your story and let's see if I can help."

"Call me Ariana then, Peter. So my problem involves the Irish mob. They think that Neal stole a Klimt from them so, they kidnapped my best friend and told me to recover the painting and assassinate Neal. The thing is that Neal didn't steal the painting, a friend of ours did and I am not going to kill Neal." I said shooting Mozzley a dark glare.

"She came to me to warn me and ask for my help in retrieving Abigail and getting Andrew Stanfield in jail for good. I knew we couldn't do this without you, so, here we are." Neal completed my story while winking my way.

"So, what is the catch? I get a murderer and a mob in the top 10 most wanted and you get Abigail but it's more isn't it? Something you are not telling me. I can't help you if you keep information from me. What is your relationship with Neal and Mozz and how did they link you to Neal?"

"I can't tell you if you don't grant me immunity. I am not going to jeopardise Abigail and myself if I can avoid it."

"I will grant you immunity if you give me all the info, no lies, no keeping intel from me, are we clear?" Peter said with a frown on his face.

"Cristal clear, Peter. So, here is everything, I am a con woman, known as The Lioness, Abigail is also a con. We specialise in art theft, forgery, making people and rumours disappear, in short, I am the reason why you ran after Neal so long. I get rumours, verify them and protect the people involved until it all settles. Mozz first contacted me 4 years before Neal was arrested; I helped him with fake ID's and safe houses until Kate appeared. When she came into the picture and told everything to the FBI, to you, I couldn't help him anymore, it wasn't a rumour; the information went straight from source to target so I couldn't stop it. When the kidnapping happened Abs was working undercover in the Irish mob, she was close to the source of the rumour but all she said to me was that she suspected someone close to me was feeding them fake information in order to get to me. I don't know exactly who he or she is but I have a suspect in mind." I said as I passed Peter a file.

"Alexander Jackson, age 35, charged for fraud, money laundry, forgery, grand theft auto and many more. Who is this guy?" Peter asked raising an eyebrow while setting the file on the table.

"He is Ariana's ex-boyfriend, they broke up with a big fuss and he is now seeking to bring her down. He is the only one other than Abigail and Mozz who knew about who Ariana is working for." Neal answered seeing that I was struggling to control my fury, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the ledge of the table.

"Alexander was a jealous man; he thought I was too involved into Neal's case and that I was having an affair with him, he didn't know that I never met Neal face to face and when I tried to tell him he said it was bull-shit and we broke off." I said while taking my black jacket off, the emotions running through my body making my blood boil.

"Okay, so we have a suspect, we trace Jackson back to Stanfield and to Abigail, we arrest them and keep them off the streets for life." Peter said looking at us as he went to the fridge and got out a beer.

"That's just it, me and Mozz tried to track him all day. The man just went into thin air; he didn't use any credit cards, no receipts, and no movement in his apartment, he is in the wind." I explained getting up and filling another glass of Bordeaux.

"The question is, Suit, how do we kill Neal without actually killing him?" Mozz said as he took the glass from my hands telling me that I had too much.

"I just had an idea, tomorrow at 9:30 you are going to enter the FBI building, get the elevator to floor 21 and kill me." Neal said smiling, leaving me with my mouth wide open and eyes like saucers.

"You want me to con the mob into thinking that you are dead. But how will I escape from being arrested in a building full of feds?" I asked still in shock.

"I'll see to that, you just practice how to get the gun in and we'll talk tomorrow at 7:30. Where are we going to meet?" Peter asked while getting ready to leave.

"My place, it's closer to your work place and it's safe." I said getting up and shaking hands with him. "Thank you for helping me, Peter, it means the world to me."

"The pleasure was mine, Ariana and hopefully, Neal won't need you to have an escape route open for him."

"Well, I am leaving too; I have some equipment to pick up so, see you tomorrow" Mozz said as he took his laptop and went out the door.

As the door closed I collapsed, my emotions hitting me with a renewed power, making me sob into my palms. Suddenly I feel two strong arms around me, holding me. Neal was hugging me, trying to comfort me.

"Ariana, it's going to be okay, we'll get her back, I promise. You protected me when I needed protection, now it's time for me to return the favour."

"If this goes wrong, you, me, Abigail, Mozz and Peter, we will all be in danger. It's not easy to con the head of the Irish mob."

"It won't go wrong, don't worry. You have to be strong and stay focused on getting Abigail back."

"You're right; this day was like a hurricane of emotions for me. I am sorry for getting mascara on your shirt; I must look charming right now. I guess I'll go now, get ready for tomorrow." I said smiling a bit through my tears.

"Okay, have a good night and so you know, you are charming." He said winking as he closed the door behind me.

When I got home, I entered the living room and noticed how quiet and empty the house felt without Abigail. It didn't feel like home anymore. Suddenly there was a knock on my door, when I opened the door, there was a package sitting on my door step but no one was around. I got the package in my house and opened it. When I saw what was in it, I had to keep myself from retching on the spot. I ran to my phone and dialled.

"Hello, Neal! Can you come right now? Get Peter too." I said crying and trembling as I leaned myself on a wall.

"Why? Ariana, what happened?!" Neal's panicked voice came from the other end of the receiver.

"I think I just received my boyfriend's head in a package."

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**So, I know, a bit of cliffhanger. Anyway, review, tell me what you think, what I should change. Hope you enjoyed my 2nd chaper.**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, third chapter is up. I don't know why but I feel this is not as good as the other 2 so please tell me what you think.**

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"Hello, Neal! Can you come right now? Get Peter too." I said crying and trembling as I leaned myself on a wall.

"Why? Ariana, what happened?!" Neal's panicked voice came from the other end of the receiver.

"I think I just received my boyfriend's head in a package."

"What?! I'll be over right away."

In 10 minutes my doorbell rang, I stood up from my couch, my legs trembling as I stumbled towards the door. I opened it slowly, half expecting another package but, sighed in relief as I saw Neal in the doorway, looking as if he just ran a marathon.

"I came as fast as I could. Peter will be here in half an hour along with two other agents, they are trustable. Are you alright?" he asked taking my hand into his and leading me to the couch noticing how my legs trembled.

"I guess I am fine, it sounds awful but I am glad it was him and not Abigail. It still shocked me but I guess they wanted to send a message. They wanted to show me that they are serious about this."

There was a knock on the door and Neal went to open it. At the door stood three agents, one of which was Peter the other two I didn't recognise.

" Peter, thank you for coming, sorry to wake you up this late…I just didn't know what to do…I wasn't prepared for this." I said getting up, trying to put a brave face on.

"There is no need to apologise; you did the best thing you could by calling us. Ariana these are Jones and Diana, they are also agents from my division, they are here to help."

"Nice to meet both of you and thank you for coming. The package is this way; I left it on the kitchen counter. I didn't want to look at it again so I didn't move it."

"Okay, we will handle it form here, you can go in the living room, I don't want you to go through seeing this again. Neal, go with her, make sure she is alright. Ariana, it would be good if you can find somewhere to stay for a few days, until all of this is over, this apartment is not safe anymore." Peter said giving me a sympathetic smile.

"Yea, sure, I'll figure something out. Either way, I couldn't sleep here anymore, not after this."

"You could stay with me, my place is big enough for both of us and it's safe." Neal offered putting his arm around my shoulder, keeping me close to him and comforting me.

"Are you sure? You don't have to feel obligated to do this. I could find something…"

"I'm sure. I don't feel alright with letting you spend the night alone or with someone I don't trust."

"Okay, I accept. Can we go there now? I don't want to stay here any longer; Peter can tell us what he found in the morning."

"Sure, let me tell Peter that we are leaving." Neal said heading back to the kitchen, leaving me alone in the small hallway.

"Let's go. We both need to get some sleep."

As we both headed out I took one last look behind, I knew that with that package they tainted my home and turned it into a torture room for me. In that moment, The Lioness came back to life. No one threatens my family and my home and gets away with it.

When we arrived at Neal's I was determined to find the man that did this to me and make him pay. For about two hours I went with Neal over the plan and made sure is fault proof then we both found ourselves sitting on the terrace, sharing a blanket, drinking a glass of wine and looking at the amazing view.

"You know, if my friend wouldn't be kidnapped and if I wouldn't have just received a head in the mail, this would have been quite a romantic moment." I said jokingly with a smile on my face.

"It can still be a romantic moment if you want to." He replied, holding me closer and bending over me, his lips 3 inches from mine.

I couldn't stop myself, my emotions raging inside me; I pulled him closer and filled the gap between us, kissing him passionately, like this kiss was the only thing keeping me alive. His lips were soft and warm and the kiss was romantic but still filled with so much emotion that we both didn't want to stop. When we pulled away, lacking breath, and looked into each other's eyes, we knew this was going to be hard to pull off, we were both criminals, both in need of stability but we hoped that being with one another would create the balance that we both craved.

"Well…uhm…we should go to sleep, in 4 hours we have to meet Peter and the others so, we have to be fresh." Neal said reluctantly letting me go.

"Yeah, sure, but, I got a little problem. With all the fuss at my house, I forgot to take my PJ's."

"You can borrow one of my shirts. So, you take the bed and I'll take the couch." Neal said throwing me a shirt and going to the bathroom to get changed.

I dressed in the shirt, kicked off my pants and got under the covers of the bed. When Neal came back dressed in a pair of pyjama pants and completely shirtless, my moth nearly dropped. He was smoking hot. Neal laid on the couch trying to get comfortable but failing miserably.

"You know, Neal, I think there's enough space for both of us. Come on, you will have an awful neck ache in the morning if you sleep on that. I don't mind sharing"

"You sure? I can sleep here…"

"Yea, I'm sure, hop in."

He got in bed, beside me and pulled me into his arms holding me to his chest. We both fell asleep in seconds.

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of coffee and pancakes. Needless to say that I was up and about in seconds, ready to have my breakfast and find my best friend's and my ex's killer. I went to the kitchen and saw Neal cooking, shirtless. When he saw that I was awake he turned and smiled.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty, had a nice sleep?" he said giving me a peck on the lips.

"Yep, I had an amazingly good sleep. You?"

"I had an amazing one." He said kissing me again, a little bit more passionately this time.

Just as we were about to pull away, Peter barged in, completely ruining the moment.

"Neil, we have a lead on who killed…Oh, I see you got pretty close…" he said blushing lightly.

"Yea, we did. I'll go change. Be back in 5." I said blushing as I noticed my state of undress.

"Really, Peter, I don't know how you always come in at the wrong moment. I guess it's one of your agent abilities." I heard Neal say as I got into the bathroom.

But this couldn't cloud my judgement, getting Abigail back came first. Family always comes first.

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**I would like to receive more feedback so I can find out what you think about my writing. Thank you for your support.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! Sorry for the delay but I moved the past weeks so I've been really busy moving boxes and painting and all that jazz. So here is chapter 4. Enjoy and don't forget to R&R.**

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"As I got out of the bathroom I realized that Mozzie was there too and he looked like he struck gold.

"Morning, Ariana, Neal, Suit! Guess what I found. Stanfield doesn't know how Neal looks like, that's why he made you kill him and didn't go after him himself. So, a plan formed into my mind. What if we kill Neal Caffrey but it's not Neal Caffrey?"

"You want us to use a random dead body and pass it up as Neal's? It's a good plan but how are we going to get a dead body that has the features required?" I asked trying to think about a way to borrow a dead body.

"I may be able to talk to the morgue but it will take time, two weeks to be exact." Peter said feeling a little bit helpless.

"I got that covered too! Ariana, remember our friend at the morgue, the French one? She agreed to help us and she already found a body about Neal's size and general characteristics. She can have it ready for us in one hour." Mozzie said feeling awfully proud of himself.

"Mozz, you are brilliant, I could really kiss you right now." I said hugging Mozzie.

"Yea, yea, I know, now let go so we can continue with our plan."

"So first I get into the FBI building and pretend to shoot Neal, next we get the body out of the building and into a fake ambulance, I pretend to escape and then we talk to Stanfield and tell him the job is done. The only problems are: 1. How am I going to escape and 2. Stanfield will kill Abigail if he sees any cops." I resumed feeling disappointed that after all this planning we still had some flaws.

"You can parachute from the building with me. It's tall enough and you will be strapped to me so you are safe. And about Stanfield, trust me, he won't see it coming." Neal said laying a reassuring arm around my shoulders and pulling me to him so I could rest my head on his shoulder.

"Great, now that we are clear, it's time for us to put this plan in action. Mozz, call the morgue tell them to bring the body. Neal, Ariana, let's go." Peter said finishing his coffee and putting his coat on.

"Good luck, everybody." Mozz said as we got out the door.

Neal and Peter entered the building 30 minutes before I came in. I threw the gun to the side as I passed the metal detectors and caught it just as I got out. I got into the elevator starting to feel a little bit nervous about all of this. As I reached floor 21 I was ready for it, I got in and saw Neal giving me a reassuring smile as I got out my gun, point it at him and then changing so that I shot into the floor. After that me and Neal headed to the roof, taking the stairs as the fake Neal's body went out the back door and into an even faker ambulance. Next, Neal started strapping me to him not before he gave me a kiss that made my knees go week. When we got on the ledge of the building, I felt my fear of heights kicking in as I tensed against him.

"It's going to be okay, nothing will happen, we are safe." Neal said trying to calm my nerves.

"I know that it's just that I had this fear for years and now I finally confront it. It makes me feel liberated but at the same time it scares me."

"I know but as they say, it's a first time for everything. Are you ready?"

"Let's do this!" I replied just as Neal pushed us of the edge.

The feeling of wind going through my hair, the adrenaline pumping through my veins and the closeness between me and Neal made the experience feel like I was living for the first time in my life. As we got closer to the ground Neal opened the parachute and we glided smoothly to the ground. When we his solid earth, Neal unstrapped the parachute as I untied us.

"This felt amazing, Neal. We should do this again but hopefully in different circumstances." I said, a smile breaking out on my face.

"We certainly will. Now for the second part of our plan, let's go to my place and have a coffee." He said his charming smile in place as he leaned in and kissed me one more time before we both got into a cab and drove off to his place.

When we arrived Mozzie and Peter were already waiting for us and they looked quite panicked as we arrived 15 minutes late. As we got in, Mozz appeared to be releasing a breath that he has been holding for a while.

"So how did it go? Did we succeed?" Peter asked while Mozz eyed us as he saw we were holding hands.

"The first part went smoothly but we won't know we succeeded until we have Stanfield behind bars." I replied letting go of Neal's hand so I could pour myself a cup of coffee.

Just as I was about to take a sip, I heard my phone ring and I fished for it in my purse. As I saw the caller ID I knew Stanfield heard the news. I signalled Peter to turn on the tracker as I answered.

"Hello, Miss Dale, had a nice day? I heard about your little assassination job, maybe you should change you profession. Now, how about I give you your reward, Abi here is anxious to see you. Come today at 6 on Rondo Street and we will make the exchange. Don't forget my little painting. If I see one cop little Abs will be dead before you can blink. Do I make myself clear, my little killer?" Stanfield's creepy voice said as shivers went down my spine.

"Cristal clear, Sir!" I said faking a shaky voice, like I was about to cry.

"Peter, did you get his location?" I asked needing good news.

"Yes, I did. It's a storage room in Queens. So what do we do now?"

"Now we go and get the bastard!" I said as my British accent got thicker.

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**Sorry it was so short but I am exhausted and in need for some sleep. Hope you liked it and please review. Feedback keeps me going.**


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